Last month, in Agueda – Portugal, 32 youth workers from eight countries, including Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Macedonia, discussed the creation of new youth strategies. During the interactive lectures was discussed about the absence of youth strategies that are key to enhancing social dialogue and cultural diversity. Several European cities, including Cascais, Turin, Maribor, Cluj-Napoca, Thessaloniki and Braga, shared their experiences as European youth capitals.

“It was a pleasure to be a part of the seminar and experience the good work from our partners from Agueda. This mobility provided everything that was expected, even more: work in a friendly, international environment, networking, sharing best practices, new friendships, partners and ideas for future projects. Agueda the place to be!” – Goran Galabov – Macedonia

“On the seminar in Agueda, we as youngsters were included in bringing new ideas, solutions and strategies of how to improve the situation of the cities for the next few years, cities that already got a title of “Youth Capital”. We gathered together with people from different countries. During this five days, we shared not only ideas but as well our cultures. We presented our typical food and drinks.” – Janja Razpotnik – Slovenia

“This seminar has bring us the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other countries and get inspired of them. I have also met a lot of incredible people from different countries that I will always carry in my heart.” – Lupe Sanchez Losada – Spain

“I had different expectations before coming on the Seminar. The best part of this experience in Agueda, without any doubt, was getting to know each other, talking to people from other countries about our cultures, our similarities and differences…Making new friends from all around Europe, that`s the best gift this opportunity has given to us…” – Candelas Ramos – Spain

Social inclusion and social dialogue of young people in Europe are key for developing the European youth identity. From the positive examples, the participants recognized the importance of incorporating the format of non-formal education as a methodology and took with them the internationalization of the work of youth organizations that is necessary for networking among youth across Europe and the world.

Angela Rajchevska